The past Sunday, September 29, 2024, the Park Avenue Church of St. Ignatius hosted the Byzantine sacred music chorus Cappella Romana for a presentation of “Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia.” It was an evening in which history, faith, and music converged to recreate the glory of one of the most revered monuments of the Christian East. The setting was an apt echo of the cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), whose history and spiritual depth were recalled in the performance of centuries-old Byzantine hymns and chants.
More than simply a musical performance, the evening was both an evocation of a sacred space, and an experience that recalled the sonic and visual grandeur that was the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Constructed during the reign of Justinian I (527-65), Hagia Sophia was “sustained by no fewer than 425 people—60 priest, 100 deacons, 40 deaconesses, 90 subdeacons, 110 readers, and 25 cantors (psaltai)—a number that was increased to 525 by his successor Heraclius I (610-41)” (Cappella Romana). Dr. Alexander Lingas, an esteemed scholar and conductor, drew on his extensive research to reconstruct a soundscape that facilitated the audience’s encounter with ancient chants of Hagia Sophia.
Lingas, an esteemed scholar and conductor, drew on his extensive research to reconstruct a soundscape that would transport the audience back in time. The “Lost Voices” program recreated the acoustical environment of Hagia Sophia, employing the cathedral’s distinctive patterns of worship and Byzantine chant traditions. The concert began with two antiphonal arrangements of the psalms from the vespers service on the eve of the Exaltation of the Cross. The history of the cross’ discovery by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, its looting by Persian forces in the 7th century, and its eventual recovery and installation in Constantinople were recalled in distinct layers of theological symbolism and historical references in these psalms and hymns. In the rite of Hagia Sophia evening prayer began with a series of antiphons that were introduced and concluded by soloists. On celebrations of church feast days, the final antiphon traditionally quoted from Psalms that emphasized the respective feast’s focus. For vespers on the eve of the Exaltation, then, the Final (Teluteion) Antiphon draw from Psalm 98:9: “Exalt the Lord our God: and fall down before his footstool, for he is holy.” The Teluteion, a unique feature of Byzantine hymnody, was an elaborate way of concluding an antiphonally sung Psalm that reflected the triumphalism and reverence that surrounded such feasts.
Other arrangements included the kekgrarian, an “antiphonal rendering of the invariable Lamplighting Psalm 140,” from Symeon of Thessalonica’s manual of cathedral liturgy, several selections from Orthros, including two hymns that pray for “the security of the Byzantine state and its emperors: ‘Lord, Save Your People,’ and the Kontakion, ‘Lifted Up on the Cross.’” The program concluded with a version of the Cherubic Hymn, preserved in south Italian versions of the Asmatikon, and included both choral and solo passages. Alexander Lingas, and Cappella Romana, succeeded not only in bringing to life the lost voices of Hagia Sophia but also in reaffirming their place in the collective spiritual memory of Eastern Orthodoxy hymnography.
Source: Orthodox Observer on Facebook / Photos: GOARCH
